


The Philosophy of Ego

by viridianova



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Genderswitch, Hogwarts AU, Kill la Kill Parody, Loveless AU, M/M, Other, Vampire AU, indie band au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-08 22:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/766830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viridianova/pseuds/viridianova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various bits and bobs of KNB shipfic that don't belong anywhere else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. With a touch of lace

"Why can't I just wear sports bras all the time?" Kagami could only glare at the racks of bras in the shop, not entirely sure what to do with them all. She felt out of place, too, with all of these beautiful young women who wore shit like makeup and actually looked like they knew what they were doing when it came to buying a strip of fabric to hold their boobs up, maybe with some lace on it.

"Because sports bras flatten you out, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said it with a deadpan look in her eye, as she picked up particularly garish piece with leopard print straps on it. "This might look good on you."

It took Kagami another thirty seconds to realize what exactly Kuroko had just implied, at which she blushed and then just shoved it back down onto the counter.

"That's gross! But I'm serious— it's not like I'm going out on dates all the time or anything. I just need to be able to play basketball, and these kinds of bras aren't even good for that anyways."

(Really, Kagami wanted to wear no bra at all, but that was kind of impossible when you had C cups. Or any cups.)

"Kagami-kun, you're really an idiot."

"Huh? Why? It makes sense."

Kuroko just sighed a little.

"Kagami-kun, do you ever think of anything besides basketball?"

"What? Yeah, of course I do."

"So you really can't think of anyone who would be interested in seeing how you look in a bra that actually makes you look nice?"

"Uh... Aomine?"

" _Stupid_."

But Kagami couldn't even hear that, because the sound was drowned out by the pain of Kuroko's hand jabbing right into her stomach.


	2. Perfect Fit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> KagaAka for 10/4

`Hey, pick something.`

Kagami bit his lip a bit as he pasted the links to several items of clothing. He actually did have a general idea of what Akashi liked, but he just wanted to be sure. Most people always assumed he didn't really care about fashion since he never really wore anything fashionable—something he never really bothered to correct. It just didn't really matter to him, and it made surprising people a little easier.

(Of course, Momoi had been the one to suggest using this assumption to his advantage in the first place when he'd said that he wanted to buy something nice for Akashi when he still couldn't see him for several months. But it seemed like it would work, and mostly it just seemed a lot easier than trying to guess.)

`The first shirt is nice. It didn't seem like it was made in your measurements, however.`

He'd fallen for it. _Perfect_.

` Really? Shit. Guess I didn't look carefully enough...`

`It seems too different from your usual style, anyways. Are you buying a gift for someone?`

Or—wait, this was the opposite of perfect. Why did he think he'd actually be able to fool Akashi, again? Why had Momoi let him think it was possible? Thankfully he hadn't turned on voice this time—or even worse, video—so Akashi couldn't really see how he was reacting. Maybe he'd be able to turn this around.

`Uhh. Yeah. For my dad. His birthday's soon, and I thought I should send something back to the States for him. Guess this isn't in his size either, though.`

There was several minutes pause before Akashi's next message came back.

`Well, he's very lucky to have a son with such good taste.`


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kill La Kill parody.

"You’re too weak, Kagami."

And maybe he was right then— with the last tatters of Tetsuya barely clinging to his chest and the rest of his body. This was really going to suck, wasn’t it— having to come back to Teikou Academy tomorrow and challenge this asshole again, and again, and again.

It’s not like Akashi’s outfit was any better in his mind. Just because he thought he could wear it a little better.

"This school is mine. You think that Tetsuya’s enough to protect you—" and he smirked again, probably because it was so obvious that Kagami was shocked that he knew the name of his uniform. "But he isn’t. You don’t know how to wear him. You never will. You need to learn your place."

And maybe Kagami did— maybe challenging the head of Teikou Academy on his very day wasn’t such a good idea. But then again, he hadn’t really wanted any of this in the first place, either.


	4. Miracle Pathology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crazy weird vampire AU. Sort of a sketchy version of something longer I wanted to write at some point.

Kise was utterly enchanted, that much had always been true. It had been true when he had watched Aomine play basketball that very first time— there was something about the way that Aomine moved that was almost supernatural. But then again, wasn’t that true of all the prodigal players in Teikou? At least, that’s all anyone said when he mentioned in passing. There was nothing supernatural about it, not really— they were all just special and remarkable. In there, somewhere, was the implication that Kise was also one of those prodigal players, and it’s not like there was anything remarkable about him, right?

Kise had to admit that much was true.

But what they didn’t know was that Aomine was different from the rest of them— he was actually hiding his full potential. That speed that everyone commented was almost like a demon’s— well, it was really much worse than that. And maybe Kise would have never known either, if he hadn’t been unlucky enough to see him run once, when he thought that no one else had been watching him. Or at least— Aomine hadn’t known for a split second, just enough for Kise to watch until Aomine noticed his presence and was on him in an instant.

"You saw, huh—?" His voice was heated but weirdly not urgent, halfway between angry and relieved if Kise had to put a finger on it to describe it.

Kise took a while to answer him— was it better to tell the full truth here? Or was this the kind of thing where he’d maybe be able to get away with something a little avoidant, when the implication was that he wouldn’t tell anyone else?

No, Aomine was too stupid for the second, and he looked like he might rip his throat out.

"… Yeah."

Something in Aomine’s face changes then, something almost like relief (and that’s something that Kise can’t decipher at all, no matter how good he was with people).

"At least it was just you. You… Did you figure it out?"

Kise just laughs a little, uneasily, under him. Did Aomine know about the questions he’d been asking anyone who’d listen to him? Probably not— after all, the Aomine he knew didn’t really care what other people thought of him. Then again, the Aomine he knew also didn’t keep secrets.

"… Mm, no."

"I’m a vampire."

That almost came too easily, and it must have shown on his face.

"Well— it’s not just me. It’s the rest of the Generation of Miracles too. Except for you, I guess." Aomine looked back down at him, and for a second Kise forgot that he was currently pinned to the lawn by the track, and someone else could see this at any time. "Akashi wanted to wait a little with you. Think he wanted to be the one to change you, but—” and the grin Aomine makes then really is monstrous, really doesn’t belong on a human face.

"That’s because he thought he’d have to be the one to tell you."


	5. The Freezing Cold Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More incomplete stuff. Written for a prompt on Tumblr [here](http://takaomine.tumblr.com/post/51841470410/idk-what-happened-here-more-the-freezing).

"The Freezing Cold Truth" was the band’s full name, but no one really called them that. TFCT worked just as well, and it added a note of mystery, to this brand new band, still so new to the scene that every time they set up at a bar at least half of the crowd couldn’t help but say "Who?"

It was the type of band that had an ever changing lineup too, always substituting in people depending on the set or the song because all they kept was a list and who could play in what. There was only one real constant, this guy with red hair and fierce strange eyebrows that had to be shaped because it just wasn’t a pattern that facial hair naturally grew in. He didn’t really seem like he belonged in a post-rock band. He seemed like a screamer.

But he didn’t scream, ever, not in any of his sets, and he always played his guitar passionately. With real feeling. It was actually a little impressive how TCFT always managed to make a crowd roar in applause at the end even if they had never heard anything about them before. It even impressed any rivals they had in the crowd—any members of other bands in the city. Tonight it had been the lead guitar of The First King of Tokyo (green hair, glasses, seemed more like the kind of guy who’d play classical piano than rock guitar), who TCFT was supposed to open for in a couple of weeks.

Or he had been impressed, until the end of the set, when that strange redheaded constant had locked eyes with someone else in the band (he had been playing some sort of decorative percussion, the type of thing that you don’t really notice until it’s gone from the sound—hell, no one had even noticed the guy had been there) and blown him a kiss.

Just as garish as all the rest.


	6. Innocent Snake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These are tiny sketches from a much larger fic I keep meaning to write but haven't, yet. Hogwarts AU. Kise and the rest of the GoM are third years. Kagami is a first year. Kagami gets sorted into Slytherin. The Hogwarts AU I'll never finish. And very, very much for [Tor](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tormalyne/), without whom this never would have gotten anywhere at all.

No one ever expected it when Taiga Kagami, the heir to the great Kagami family, sat on that stool and the Sorting Hat sent him to Slytherin. Because the Kagamis had always gone to Gryffindor, and Taiga had seemed like a shoo-in, even at the age of 11. Because he was a fiery little boy and his hair would go well with the uniform. There were other reasons, too—he had always seemed excited by that prospect and wasn’t sheer will usually enough. But the hat had decided and Taiga was grinning anyways, too high off the prospect of even being here, at Hogwarts, right now. Even if everyone else looked sort of shocked—even if the entire Gryffindor table, which had been halfway to standing up when Taiga had walked up to the hat, had to awkwardly seat themselves. All that mattered is that Slytherin had stood up and they were all hooting for him and beckoning him over. Kagami was a good name to have in their house, anyways—and when he gets to the table, it’s a third year, a pretty one with blonde hair and a strange allure who gives him a wave and pats the seat beside him on the bench.

"I’m Ryouta Kise," he mutters in Taiga’s ear, as he clamps a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome to Slytherin." And Taiga just grins back, all wide eyed and innocent, and it just makes Ryouta’s smile a little bit sharper.

* * *

"No, Kagamicchi, it’s like this."

It was only two weeks into his first year and Kagami had already gotten his first nickname. It actually caused a lot of whispers— since Kise didn’t add that suffix to people’s last names lightly, apparently. Most people just assumed that it was because the name ‘Kagami’ had been so valuable to the Slytherin house— and because it meant that Slytherin could rub so much more into Gryffindor’s faces.

The people who assumed that it was just because of the younger boy’s status probably never saw them studying together, though.

Kise draped over him like he’d known him for years, holding his wand as he taught him his first charm— “Wingardium Leviosa”. With a feather. This was supposed to be easy, and for most people it was. But Kagami couldn’t quite get the motion right, or the pronunciation. It was almost enough to make Kise roll his eyes, but he wanted to be nice, to the most interesting person to join Slytherin house in the two years and change he’d been a member.

Everyone else already knew that if Kise was paying attention to someone, that they shouldn’t even try.

Kagami just furrowed his brow (too much emotion, he’d never last here if there wasn’t someone looking out for him), and tried again.

"Wingardium Levioooosa.” He even gave his best attempt at the swish and flick motion, although it still ended up slightly botched.

The feather twitched, but it didn’t actually rise. Kagami looked up at his tutor hopefully.

"No way, Kagamicchi. I’m not gonna let you get away with something like that."

He could see how Kagami slumped back into his chair, but Kise didn’t care if Kagami felt discouraged.

Especially not when he’d been so close to getting it right.

"Try it again. This time I’m not gonna help you.


	7. Loving Cruelty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loveless AU. Also written for Tor.

Aomine exhaled sharply, as Kise applied the anesthetic to his wound.

“Jeez, Kise, you really don’t have to do that, you know—”

Kise just gave him a grim little smile as he pushed on the wound a little harder. He could feel it too— he could feel it when Aomine was in pain, and didn’t Aomine realize that it was even more difficult for Kise to be around him when he was in pain, didn’t he realize that as much as Aomine hated being in pain, Kise almost hated that he was feeling it more?

"Mm, no. I have to do this. You wouldn’t take care of yourself, otherwise, right?"

Aomine just shrugged, trying his best to be dismissive toward what Kise was saying. “It’s just a little scratch, though.”

"But you have to be in good shape, though. If we wanna keep winning. Did you forget that, Aominecchi?” There was a little bit of a bite in Kise’s words, as he continued to treat Aomine’s wounds. But it wasn’t really meant to be terse, exactly, he wasn’t trying to punish him. Just try to make sure that he wouldn’t be so reckless in the future. “I can’t fight anyone on my own, you know?”

_So get better, and stop trying to act tough when you don’t need to._


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moreee vampire AU for Tor. For some writing meme that I can't remember, yikes.

Aomine had warned Kise not to follow him home the first time, but for some reason his warnings never really stuck. Neither did his scowls, nor his more violent attempts to keep Kise off of him. No matter what he tried to do, Kise Ryouta would keep after him like a dog, trying to get him to teach him something. Because he’d seen Aomine’s speed when he played, and he wanted to figure out just where it came from.

That much Aomine knew, because Kise liked to declare it, and loudly, every time he started one of his pointless chases. Aomine didn’t have the heart to tell Kise that his speed wasn’t going to be imitated, no matter how hard Kise tried. Because Aomine really was a monster.

But Kise was stupidly fearless, and even on the days when Aomine vehemently told Kise to stay away— he’d still follow. And Kise was irresistable in his own way, his energy was the kind of thing that was intriguing, and eventually Aomine just had to know. If there was more to that energy, if there was something in there that Aomine could maybe use. And for whatever stupid reason, Kise didn’t seem all that reluctant to let him try.


	9. Racemose Clusters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something a little sad. KagaKise.

It had been years since they’d seen each other (or maybe years made it feel like too much of an exaggeration, since it had only been about two, so it really hadn’t been all that long). Times had changed some, since both Kagami and Kise had moved on to university, even if they had ended up in the same city and thus were arguably closer. But they also had less time to spend together, since Kise had since learned not to skip class constantly even when he didn’t have a model shoot to go to. And Kagami, even moreso, had to learn that he couldn’t get away with barely passing his exams in university, just enough to be able to play, because his advisers all scolded him and he had to keep his grades up in order to keep his place in the class.

 

It had actually started with a mistake— Kagami had mailed Kise instead of another friend at school. Not that it had been a particularly embarrassing mail (and thank goodness for that, really), but Kise had responded with characteristic enthusiasm and Kagami didn’t have the heart to tell him it had been a mistake.

And maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, to see him again, to see that strangely brilliant face after some time away, when the memories of high school had mostly faded.

* * *

But some things didn’t really change at all. Kagami had been standing at the entrance to one of the big parks in Tokyo (Kise had suggested it, he had said that it offered the best place to view cherry blossoms, and more than that it was close to a big liquor store), when he had heard the sing-song (formerly obnoxious) sound of Kise’s voice.

"Kagamicchi! Is that— oh, that’s definitely you."

Kagami almost frowned out of habit, almost told him to stop calling him by that weird nickname that he had kept calling him since their first year of high school and had really never stopped (even when they’d gotten closer, even when they’d drifted apart), but then he saw the smile on Kise’s face and it was almost like they were back in high school again, except now they weren’t wearing uniforms (either basketball or school), and his expression softened into a smile.

"Hey, Kise. You haven’t changed."

"Ah, I don’t know if I’d say _that_. We’ve both grown up some, don’t you think? For one thing—" And here he paused to foist a bag into Kagami’s hands.

"For one thing, we wouldn’t be able to drink together, the last time I saw you."

"We’re drinking together?"

" _How_ long have you been living here again? That’s what you’re supposed to do, when you view the cherry blossoms, right?"

"But it’s only 9 o’clock—"

Kise put a hand on his mouth then, to stifle the protest when he knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Idiot," he murmured. "I didn’t say that we were going to do that right _now_. Were you always this literal?"

"Shut up— the park’s open, we have to go get a good spot."

Kise just grinned, a little knowingly, at his old friend.

"It’s like you really have forgotten who I am."


	10. Cagamosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AoKaga. Written for [bootsnbows](http://takaomine.tumblr.com/post/49134521210/cagamosis-aokaga-u-im-setting-myself-up-for).

“I swear to god I’m gonna kill her.”

And Aomine turned to him at that, questioning, because Kagami had just said something in English again and didn’t he know that not everyone here knew what he was saying when he started talking like that? But then he followed Kagami’s line of sight out of the booth they were both currently stuck in, and realized that who he was glaring daggers at was in fact Satsuki, and then everything became clear.

“What? You aren’t happy being my wife for the day? Come on, you didn’t even have to wear anything special …”

“It’s because you’re calling me your wife that I’m unhappy, you fucking idiot.”

“But we’re married! Right?”

“No, we both lost bets with Momoi and Kuroko and this is what they said we had to do. Stop taking shit so literally.”

At that, Aomine put a hand around Kagami’s shoulder, as he reached for the lever on the photo booth.

“Only when you learn how to lighten up. Just look at the camera, okay? If you keep staring at other girls, I’m gonna get jealous.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (cagamosis: being in an unhappy marriage)


	11. Sphallolalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AkaKaga, for [this meme](http://takaomine.tumblr.com/post/93069596845/send-me-a-word-and-a-character-series-pairing-and-i)

"Taiga," Akashi had whispered, with the vaguest of smiles playing around his lips. "You should watch what you're doing."

Somewhere along the line, Kuroko had encouraged Kagami to get to know his former captain better. This had managed to manifest in the form of Shogi lessons, a game that Kagami both knew nothing about and had no interest in learning more about. But it had been what Akashi had wanted to play, and Akashi's word was— not _law_ , maybe, but he was still often difficult to deny.

Especially now, when he was staring at him across the shogi board, and Kagami had clearly just chosen to make a very bad move.

He rubs the back of his head, the slightest bit sheepish. "Maybe we should call this off, uh, Seijuurou."

(It'd felt a little bit strange, the first time Akashi had called him by his first name, just because he'd gotten so used to being called Kagami while he was in Japan. But it had gotten a little, both to hear it and to call Akashi by his first name in return, although he was pretty sure Akashi didn't like it when he did.)

Akashi looked up sharply, but Kagami had already started getting up from the table where they had been playing with each other. He'd started to stretch— and show off a bit of his abdomen in the process, but he didn't really care. Akashi was a basketball player, after all, and he'd seen way more than a bit of skin.

"Did you have a suggestion as to what we could do instead? I don't think Tetsuya would be too happy, if we left this here for the day."

He meant the deal to get to know each other better, but sometimes Kagami wasn't even sure he wanted to. But he had a point— and the last thing Kagami could afford was for Kuroko to be unhappy with him.

"There's a Maji Burger around the corner— and I think there's a Japanese place there too. Or I could cook?"

That smile again— the vaguest possible.

"You can cook if you let me decide what you're making."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sphallolalia: flirtatious talk that leads no where.


	12. Lygerastia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AoKaga, for [this meme](http://takaomine.tumblr.com/post/93069596845/send-me-a-word-and-a-character-series-pairing-and-i). This contains some alcohol usage (although they're overage for sure)

"Kagamiiii..." Aomine's voice trailed off as they both stumbled back into the apartment that they (unfortunately, still, in Kagami's mind) shared. He'd thought that this would only be a temporary arrangment— and more than that, that Aomine wouldn't even want to be friendly, after everything that had happened in high school.

Instead— Aomine wanted him to be his wingman, almost constantly, and kept forcing him to go out to bars and shitty clubs where he was mostly forced to watch Aomine increasingly make an ass of himself until he finally called the night finished. 

But this was new. The fact that he was getting so close— practically breathing in his ear in their dark apartment was new. The fact that Aomine was a hair's breadth away from kissing his neck. Or something. 

It was kind of gross. 

"You're sleeping on the couch tonight." They had separate beds in the one bedroom they shared (bunk beds, even, but Kagami wasn't even sure _that_ would stop him right now). Aomine just frowned. 

"Aw, c'mon." The pout in Aomine's voice probably wasn't faked, but that didn't mean that Kagami was going to magically feel sorry for him. 

"You drank too much again, and I don't wanna deal with the noises you're gonna make when you're sick in like three hours. Okay?" 

He didn't bother to actually get an okay from Aomine when he dropped him on the couch, but at least he made sure there was a blanket there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lygerastia: the condition of one who is only amorous when the lights are out. 


End file.
